Out of my comfort zone

I don't really like the colour orange. (I'm not keen on yellow or mustard colours either.) I guess I prefer cooler colours like greens and purples and blues, although I'm a big fan of red as well.

So I wasn't very impressed when some polymer clay beads went "wrong" on me and I ended up with orange.

I was playing with translucent clay and alcohol inks and made a lovely warm red colour. I added copper leaf and I was really happy until they came out of the oven... ORANGE!

A similar set I made at the same time with out-of-the-packet trans red and silver leaf looked exactly as I expected.

Ah well. Next experiment - red sand in translucent clay. Came out... you guessed it, orange.

So I thought, I'm being a bit prejudiced here. Plenty of people like orange, if I make some jewellery with the beads I don't like, someone else might love it. And I grabbed the offending beads, some copper wire and some other bits and pieces and almost forced myself to make a necklace.

And you know what? I actually like it. I'd like it a whole lot better if it was purple, but I like it.

And just for Carrie, here's how I did it.

I mixed alcohol inks into translucent clay. Note that the colour may be different when baked, so you could  do a test bake of a tiny piece before you commit to creating the beads. Adjust the colour if you want to. I also added some gold glitter to the clay and mixed well.

I rolled out a sheet of the coloured trans on the thickest setting, and placed a sheet of copper leaf on top.

Then I rolled this sheet into a jellyroll cane, with the leaf on the inside. It can be difficult to get the clay to stick to the leaf but persevere with it. It doesn't have to be neat but you don't want air bubbles.

I squared off the jellyroll cane and cut off a piece for the focal bead. I reduced the rest a little and cut it into sections to make the square beads. I softened the edges by gently rolling the bead in my palms, pierced and baked.

I textured the focal bead with rubber stamps, a different one on each side. Once it was pierced and baked I painted on brown acrylic paint, wiping it off the raised portions of the design and leaving it in the impressions.

I mushed up the waste ends of the cane to make some irregular oval beads, which I flattened out, pierced, and baked.

The beads were tumble sanded and buffed to a dull sheen.

Next came the wirework. For the focal bead I made a spiral in a piece of wire hammered it a little, threaded on a small round bead and made a wrapped loop at the top. I made a simple loop either side of the focal bead and dangled the round bead and spiral from it.

Each other link started with a hammered spiral with a straight "tail". I threaded the beads onto the tail and closed it with a loop. The loop attaches to the next wire just after the spiral - the pictures show this much more clearly than I can explain.

Some copper chain and handmade copper fastenings finished the necklace off.

So I learned a lesson. Working outside my comfort zone is good - I created something that's not my usual style, but is still a nice piece, and will mostly likely have an influence on the way my style develops in future. I feel it's helped me grow a little as an artist, and that wouldn't have happened if I'd just thrown out those orange beads.

Explanations

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted for so long!

This summer's really been a washout for me. I haven't been well - I got some kind of virus which just wiped me out and I still don't feel like my usual self.

As a result I haven't made many jewellery pieces and I've essentially had to give up my day job, so I guess I've reached a point where I need to make some decisions.

It's getting more and more clear to me that I'll probably never be able to have a "real" job or a career. I always wanted to be a researcher but I can't see myself being able to study for a PhD and working 9-5, it's just not realistic when you have so many days when you just can't do very much.

I'm trying not to feel sorry for myself. I'm going to be positive. I can keep making jewellery and hopefully sell enough to help financially, I can do one-off volunteering projects (like teaching African songs to schoolkids as I did last year).

And I can also start studying with Open University. Not necessarily to finish my psychology degree (although I could do that), but simply because I want to learn and prove to myself that with the right support and flexibility I can study at that level. I'm starting with a second-year course in music in February.

A chat with a friend of mine the other day reminded me that I have already done a lot of worthwhile things and even if my life isn't coventionally successful (the usual job, money, kids, etc) I'm still not a failure.

But it annoys me that I can't reach my potential because of some stupid illness.

Still. Onwards and upwards.

In lieu of actual content...

I'm fascinated by Wordle. Here's a Wordle of this blog! Have a go yourself, it's great fun.

Awesome bead artist

I apologise for not posting much recently, but I've had a lot to do with my "real" job (recording audio books), and I've been frantically trying to catch up after feeling rubbish for a week and not getting much done.

Apart from playing with a few clay techniques, I haven't done any jewellery work at all since the pieces I made for Christmas presents - shame! I'm dying to get back into it.

I should be finished with the current book by the end of today though, so I'll have some time after that to create to my heart's content.

So in lieu of pictures of my work, here's an Etsy artist that I've discovered recently, thelonebeader. I just love ther work, so clever and detailed, plus she uses those tiny little seed beads that I'm a little obsessed with. My favourite piece is this beaded cardinal.

The cardinal's such a cool bird! One day, if I ever get to the US, I might see one in person. Anyway, I'd cheerfully mug someone* for this pin, because it's gorgeous.

*Actually I'd never mug anyone. Stealing is wrong. But I would compliment them on it, ask where they got it, and then try to persuade them to give it to me!

Presents - sorted!

My parents have always made a big fuss about Christmas. They spend far too much on presents even though my brother and I are all grown up and living away from home - my dad even buys presents for my dog!

The problem with giving gifts when you get older is, people become much harder to choose presents for, because they already have everything they want. My parents used to hassle me every year to decide what I wanted for my "big present", when I really don't need anything else. And I'm rubbish at finding the perfect gift for other people.

So this year I made things much easier, in two ways.

Firstly I created a wish list on Amazon with everything I could think of, and emailed the link to my mum. She loves the fact that she could just order stuff for me online in the comfort of her own home at 10pm without having to trawl through town of a Saturday not being able to find anything I'd like.

As a result, I got several awesome books on polymer clay on Christmas Day, and spent much of the afternoon leafing through them and going "Wow! That looks awesome, I could make that!" I'm expecting to have some cool new lines available soon, inspired by the projects in the books. Yay!

And secondly, I gave handmade jewellery as presents this year. I figured a nice unique piece designed especially for that person would mean much more than the usual potted plant or pair of slippers or gift voucher or whatever.

I haven't actually made jewellery for family members before so I was a bit nervous as to whether they'd like it and concerned that I might look a bit "cheap" (even though I spent quite a lot on materials).

So here's what I made (click on the pictures to enlarge them). I decided to buy beads rather than make polymer clay ones, because I didn't think my style of clay work would really suit the type of jewellery I wanted to make.

For my boyfriend's mum - a necklace and earrings set with some gorgeous shimmery green glass beads, a green foiled glass focal bead with rose pattern, and colourless and pale green Swarovski crystals.

Each bead is individually linked to the next with sterling silver wire to make a beaded chain. The part of the necklace that rests on the back of the neck is a simple delicate silver chain (because the crystals aren't comfortable there, they can dig into your neck).

This was my first attempt at making my own ear wires, and I'm pleased with the way everything turned out.





For my mum - a necklace and bracelet set with blue glass beads, colourless Swarovski crystals and a blue foiled glass focal bead, made in the same way as the green necklace.

The bracelet is a simple silver chain, to which I added the crystals and blue glass beads as little charms.







For my grandmother - a necklace and bracelet set with pink and lavender Swarovski crystals and colourless Swarovski crystal flowers. Again I linked each bead individually using sterling silver wire.

It's hard to see from the photo, but the flowers sparkle beautifully and sometimes shine yellow or blue (you can see the blue in the picture).

They all seemed to like their presents!

Did anyone else give handmade gifts this year? How did it work out for you?

A little bit about me

Me

I'm 29 years old and I'm studying psychology at university. I like to describe myself as having the head of a scientist and the heart of an artist - I definitely need to have an outlet for my creativity, and I also love to experiment and break the rules!

Being inquisitive, I'm naturally interested in almost everything (except I don't have any patience for politics), but I'm particularly fascinated by evolution, the natural world, and the brain.

I love my organic vegetable garden, and enjoy creating wildlife-friendly spaces - my garden's designed to attract a wide range of birds, insects and mammals, and I also rehabilitate (and release) sick and injured wild European hedgehogs. In my spare time I'm often to be found with a pair of binoculars and a field guide in my hand, watching birds.

I've been battling fibromyalgia since I was 16. Life's an uphill struggle at times (fibro causes exhaustion, sleep disturbance, muscle pain, lack of concentration and motivation, and depression), I have to try to find a balance between keeping busy and getting enough rest. The sense of satisfaction I get from creative activities can really help when I'm not feeling at my best.

I sing with three choirs - usually sacred choral pieces (although I'm not religious myself). Music is a great way to escape from any problems I may be having - concentrating on singing a piece I've never even seen before, let alone heard, is enough of a challenge that I can't think about anything else! One of the things I love most about the choirs is the friends I've made - we have such a great time together even if concerts can be a bit stressful at times.

Jewellery

I've been making jewellery since August 2008, so I'm pretty new to all this! I'd like to think I'm learning fast. I've recently started working with polymer clay - I had a gift set of Premo for Christmas when I was 10 or 11, and I've never forgotten how much fun it was! I love way you can create so many different colours and textures and shapes, and put them together to make a truly unique and personal piece of jewellery. I'm using Fimo Soft these days, mostly because it's the most easily available here.

At the moment I'm exploring inclusion of objects into translucent clay. I'm had good results with spices which produce fantastic earthy colours, glass seed beads, sand, eyeshadow and glitter. I'd also like to try dried flower petals and perhaps strands of yarn. These are seriously individual beads!

I make beads in very small batches, usually less than 30, because I want every piece I make to be truly unique. I know it isn't very time-efficient, but that's not the point - I'm not running a factory!

Basically I make jewellery that I'd like to wear myself. Not that I've got round to making anything for me yet...

Knitting

My mum taught me to knit when I was 9 or 10. I don't have the patience to knit big things, in fact I've never knitted anything bigger than a hat or scarf. I like to see results pretty soon, and as I don't knit very fast (fibro makes my hands ache), sweaters and blankets just take too long.

One of the first pattern books I got was one with animals that my mum bought me when I was a child. I must have made every animal in that book, and then moved onto creating my own simple patterns.

I started making hedgehogs as a fundraiser for hedgehog rescue charities, especially Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue, who have given me so much help and support with my own hedgehog caring. I'd previously tried pattens which involved making loops for the spines, but soon realised that using chinchilla/eyelash yarn does a much better job and is so much easier! I have lots of different colours of yarn so I can make them in team colours or even to match your décor! It's a great way to help our prickly friends.

Well, I think that's about it! I'll be posting more soon. I'm intending to use this blog to show how each piece is made, the techniques and equipment I use, etc. Please let me know what you think!